Then and Now
by BunniesOfDoom
Summary: Victor gets sick and is reminded of a previous time when Yuuri helped him.


This was written for a prompt on my sneezehq tumblr. The first part of this is set during Yuuri's previous Grand Prix Final series. Content warning for vomit. Enjoy!

* * *

By the time the Cup of China is coming to a close, Yuuri is exhausted, a ball of nerves held up only by adrenaline and copious amounts of caffeine. His free skate is a blur. Yuuri rushes to the bathroom to splash some water on his face in an attempt to stay awake for the trip back to the hotel.

He's barely paying attention to where he's going, so he nearly runs into the person blocking the bathroom sinks. "I'm so sorry!" he yelps, apologizing instinctively.

"'S okay," the man slurs, waving a hand vaguely. Yuuri finally takes a moment to get a look at the stranger.

"Victor … Nikiforov?" he stutters and does a double take. He'd probably do a spit take if he was drinking anything.

"Yeah. Who're you?" Victor asks, accent thick. He doesn't sound angry, just confused.

For a moment, Yuuri forgets how to talk, as well as his own name and how to think. "Um," he splutters for a second. "I'm Yuuri Katsuki!" he squeaks.

Victor doesn't respond, and Yuuri takes a second to actually look at him. He frowns at what he sees. Victor seems pale and unsteady on his feet, and there's a feverish flush on his cheeks. "Are you okay?" Yuuri asks anxiously, concern overriding his starstruck stupor.

"I'm okay," Victor mumbles, before lurching over the sink with a gag. He brings up a few thin strings of bile and groans. Yuuri automatically moves forward to rub his back, shyness momentarily forgotten. He winces at the heat radiating off Victor.

""You're really sick, aren't you?" His question goes unanswered as Victor struggles with another heave, spitting a few globs of saliva into the sink. "You won a Grand Prix Final qualifying event running a fever like this?" Victor just slumps into Yuuri's side with a low moan, apparently finished puking for the moment.

Yuuri carefully props him up against the wall of the stall and wets some paper towels to create a makeshift cold compress that he presses to Victor's forehead. The taller man sighs at the coolness, and Yuuri smiles slightly, glad that he could provide a tiny bit of comfort for the obviously ill skater. He's at a loss for what to do now, though. Victor needs help, but Celestino will be looking for Yuuri soon.

That's it! He just has to find Victor's coach; surely he'll be willing to take care of his student. And like any superfan of Victor, Yuuri already knows his name and what he looks like.

Yuuri hurries out of the restroom, looking desperately for any sign of Yakov. He spots him a few meters away, arguing with a young blonde teenager.

"Are you Yakov Feltsman?" he asks, pretending that he doesn't already know that.

"Yes," Yakov replies, turning to face him. "And who might you be?"

Yakov is intimidating, and Yuuri finds himself tongue-tied for a few seconds. But the idea of Victor, miserably sick and alone in the bathroom, spurs him into action. "I'm Yuuri Katsuki, sir."

Yakov scoffs, unimpressed. "And what do you want?" Behind him, the younger skater mutters something in Russian.

"It's not me, it's Victor." Yuuri does his best to stay calm and explain the situation. "I found him in the bathroom. He's really sick!"

"Show me where he is," Yakov demands. Yuuri leads him to the bathroom, where Victor is still miraculously propped against the wall. Yakov moves to his skater's side, pressing his hand to Victor's face to check his temperature and cursing in Russian.

Yuuri offers to help, but Yakov waves him off. He decides that maybe it's best if he just leaves. Victor is probably in good hands with his coach. "I hope that you feel better soon!" he calls over his shoulder as he exits the bathroom.

Later, at the Grand Prix Final and when Victor comes to Hasetsu, it becomes evident that Yuuri is the only one who remembers the encounter. It's disappointing but not entirely surprising, given how sick Victor was at the time.

* * *

Coming back to competitive figure skating is very challenging and tiring, making one very susceptible to germs. So it's not completely unexpected when Yuuri finds Victor in the bathroom after practice puking up his guts. "I thought you were coming down with something," Yuuri mutters to himself, rubbing Victor's back in soothing circles.. Then, a little louder, "You're really sick, aren't you?"

Victor's shoulders jerk up in surprise, and when he finally gets a break from vomiting, he cranes his head around to look at Yuuri. "It was you?" he asks, sounding dazed.

"What?" Yuuri doesn't understand what Victor is talking about. Just how high is his fever?

Victor spits shakily and wipes his mouth. "At the Cup of China," he explains, his voice raspy. "You took care of me."

It takes Yuuri a moment to get over his shock; he didn't think that Victor remembered that at all.

"Yes, and I'll take care of you now," Yuuri promises, a fond smile on his face. It's amazing how much can change in just a year.

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Thank you for reading! Please leave a review!


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